blairtin

Hi Friends: Thanks for the continuing discussion, I think it's a really important one. I can't stress enough how the book was originally *only* the history of policy and funding. During journalism school in 1999 I devoured everything I could find on the subject, and a lot of what I'd experienced suddenly made sense. But when I tried writing it as a timeline of history -- well, I could see that few people would read it. It's important, no more so than at a time like this when only a few weeks into our economic slump, several groups have already disappeared or been ravaged in some way (Pasadena Symph, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Pacific Opera, NYC Opera). It's 1987 all over again. I added the memoir as a way of bringing this all to life. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that people would interpret that as the main event...but since that was the overarching theme of the reviews, I must not have done a good job of minimizing that. I wrote the book by making extensive lists of every issue facing the arts, as well as the "tent poles" of the history of funding and policy, and tried to find stories in my life that illustrated them. What has really surprised me is the assumption that if someone's name appears, I'm dissing them. That very much disappointed me, as I tried to represent the vast majority of people as talented and underappreciated. Ah well, I learned a lot about communication in the aftermath. Yes, I have a business certificate, but not an MBA. I returned to college in my 30s to learn about things not offered at my arts high school -- chemistry, polisci, calculus, economics. Together with some computer courses and seminars, it did satisfy requirements for the BCI course at Columbia U. And it gave me some tools to understand and research all of this. There's no simple equation in the arts, but what we're seeing now -- with the dissolution of some groups -- is a big lesson. Nonprofit arts orgs need to plan for a rainy day, and also diversify funding sources. With Opera Pacific and Milwaukee Shakes, reliance on 1-3 donors for up to 75 percent of funding is a fragile house of cards., no matter how golden the intent. Running deficits of 50 percent of the annual budget doesn't seem wise, either -- I made some recommendations in the last chapter. What else I said in the book is that arts funding and attendance is up...WAY up, according to the NEA. It's never been better, but the classical music business is cloaked in mythology that it was once, long ago, some halcyon world free of debt. Music *has* always been a beautiful, halcyon world, in fact, and will continue to be such. But until my lifetime, few people in the US would have considered it a viable career option, because it was impossible to make a living doing only music performance. Things are very different now, and we've forgotten that a full-time music career is a relatively new and wonderful thing. But there's not enough to go around! I had a great career as a musician. And now I'm having an even better one. I'm not a musician. I'm not a journalist. I'm both, and combining them in new ways. I just returned from Bali, and I'm creating a television travel show where music -- the universal language -- is the vehicle for entering a place and culture. Where I can think of people (I'm remembering the happy percussionists with all their cool instruments in Miss Saigon) who love doing what I was in NYC, and rightfully so, I'm glad I took a left turn that still includes music. I hope all of you find your unique path too. I just ask that you question and explore, and do not waste time being judgmental but instead bask in the wonders of your individual talents.

Dear JCharney: Thanks for your well-written thoughts about my book, and about your professional direction. As I said in the book, by all means go into music full-on if it's something your truly love. That said, plan your education carefully, and with a lot of consideration for the future. I can't stress enough the importance of getting a well-rounded education. This doesn't mean doing so to have "something to fall back on," but as a toolbox that will help you have a more interesting and diverse creative career within music. Especially as a composer, a background in history, science, political science, English, and so on will only enhance your work as a musician. Look at Yo-Yo Ma, a Harvard alumnus who majored in history (I think) and went on to create the fabulous Silk Road Project. Or Josh Bell, who graduated from Indiana University. Or the late conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli, who at the time of his death was weeks away from earning a PhD in Egyptology. You may find that studying other things leads you to a richer composing career. If you go into film and commercial composing instead of or in addition to an academic career that can truly contribute to your writing. And you may even find that expanding your interests leads to a parallel or alternate career or graduate school in an unrelated field. As anyone who has read Mozart beginning to end can tell you, it's a book about the *rise* of culture in America. In it, I clearly say that classical music is in the best shape ever here in the US, although many administrators have done everything they can to kill it with overspending in the wrong places, poor policy, and other bad business practices that wouldn't last long in the private sector. (Classical music is almost 100 percent a nonprofit-organization field.) I used my life, which paralleled the whole story of nonprofit arts funding in America, as a way to bring the story to life. I love music and had, and continue to have, a wonderful career -- and said so often in the book. But performing as a musician is not right for everyone. People have unique personalities and desires, and music, like sports, is a career one must settle upon when one is far too young to make such a serious decision. The book is not about me. It is about arts funding and policy in America. It's a book written so musicians can better understand and control what happens in their careers, as one of the respondents above so intelligently points out. A friend of mine, a violist, went to the Viola Congress this year and asked 50 musicians what they thought of the book. All had strong opinions, mostly negative. Unfortunately, only one had actually read it -- and he liked it. It's a timeline of how we went from music as a hobby and part-time career as recently as the 1950s (there was no full-time orchestra in the US until the NY Phil went to 52 weeks in 1964), to the burgeoning field of today -- where some 2500 players can make a real living from their orchestra salaries alone. As for the poster right above me, who had not read the book but had strong and negative opinions about it, could you enlighten us on the identity of this "Tillman?" Anyway, JCharney, worry not. Just think and plan ahead and really take control of your future. Make sure you have a handle on all the latest technology, explore all the ways music gets made today, learn to communicate well with your audience and performers, and enjoy!